Terry Gross

For 18 years, from 1987 to 2006, Alan Greenspan was chair of the Federal Reserve Board — the United States' central banker, in charge of steering the nation's monetary policy. His every word was scrutinized by markets, read like tea leaves by market makers and investors looking for clues to his thoughts on the economy's health.

Viggo Mortensen stars in Eastern Promises, a new David Cronenberg thriller set in London, in the dangerous underworld of sex trafficking.

The film was written by Steve Knight, who wrote the screenplay for Dirty Pretty Things.

Cronenberg and Mortensen's last collaboration was the acclaimed 2005 film A History of Violence.

Thomas Ricks, senior Pentagon correspondent for The Washington Post, discusses this week's long-awaited progress report from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the top two American officials in Iraq.

Ricks is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of the best-selling book Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. It's just come out in paperback.